September 30, 2012

I have been reading and researching the daily 5 like crazy! I finally introduced the whole chart to the class on Friday. We have been reviewing what each center should look like for the past couple weeks because I didn't want to throw it at them all at once. It seemed to work well! The normal "wild animals" in the classroom was more of an organized zoo this time, which is a fantastic improvement! ;)

It's been a long two weeks and I finally have some time for another post!

Every good teacher needs a stash of treats! ;)

Here is our rubric for writing sentences. During writing, I have the kids give themselves the smiley face they think they deserve on the top of their paper. Self-assessment! Woo!

Keeping our science wall up to date!

Beginning, middle, & end anchor chart!

I've quickly realized that first graders are non-stop THIRSTY! And with 16 kids asking me for a drink of water every 30 seconds, I knew I had to think of something fast... so I made a water fountain pocket chart! I threw it together in 10 minutes and I plan on making it a little more cute, but it works for now! Each student gets a green, yellow, orange, and red card. They get to use their cards until they get to the red card. When the red card is showing they have no more drinks left. This is also a great way to teach responsibility for themselves because they are starting to use their cards wisely ;)

And of course I give them "free water passes" after P.E. and recess. They think its so cool to be getting a "free" pass! haha

Time to start the Halloween decorations! I've been waiting for so long! Can not wait to turn all our class projects into Halloween themes!

Our first project we made were spider digraphs! How cute are these?!

Lots of class spiders! They look so funny with the owl clips! haha oops..

Over the weekend, I went to the free teacher store! It's a store that teachers in title 1 schools can get free supplies once a month. I had a blast.... ;)

I also got this Skippyjon Jones backpack! One of the girls in my class LOVES this book so I immediately thought of her. She absolutely loved it! I took a picture of her wearing it, but i'm still not sure about posting student pictures on the internet so I have to leave it off for now..

On another note... I had to include this in my post. Does anyone else's classroom look like this by lunch? I need some suggestions.... a hurricane comes through the classroom every day!

Here is my first newsletter! I am (hopefully) sending these home weekly with their reading homework packets attached.

September 14, 2012

Finally finished the word wall! The flower at the bottom is a "word family" flower. -at is written on the center and each leaf has an -at word: cat, hat, bat. Can't wait for the kiddies to do these so we can post more flowers!

My desk! :)

(the cleanest it will ever be)

Birthday pencils to give to students on their birthday with a note from the teacher.

Class book boxes made out of cereal boxes. Students will decorate these in class! Can't wait to see how they turn out!